Miami (AFP) – Former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama birdied the first hole of a sudden death playoff to beat Alex Noren in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas on Sunday. Japan’s Matsuyama claimed his second victory in the unofficial 20-man event hosted by Tiger Woods, which he also won in 2016. He sealed it with an impressive birdie at the first playoff hole, sticking his second shot within three feet of the pin and calmly rolling it in after Noren was unable to get his own longer birdie attempt to fall.
“It was perfect distance for me,” Matsuyama said of his approach in the playoff. “Earlier (at 18) I missed it a little right, so I was going right at it and was able to hit a great shot.”
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Matsuyama opened the 2025 PGA Tour season with a victory in The Sentry tournament in Hawaii back in January, but he hadn’t managed another top 10 finish on the US circuit all year. He produced a bogey-free final round at Albany Golf Club in Nassau, highlighted by a hole out for eagle from 116 yards out in the fairway at the 10th. His six birdies included a 29-footer at the eighth and a chip-in at the ninth, before he rolled in a 30-footer at the 13th for his last birdie of the day.
Matsuyama led by as many as two strokes, but Noren piled up five of his nine birdies on the back nine to post a 64 of his own. He forced the playoff with an 18-foot birdie putt at the final hole of regulation to join Matsuyama on 22-under 266. Austrian Sepp Straka, who started the day with a one-stroke lead over two-time defending champion Scottie Schffler, was third, carding a 68 for 267.
World number one Scheffler had an eagle, five birdies and three bogeys in a four-under 68 and was tied for fourth with US Open champion J.J. Spaun on 20-under. “I played better than my score, for sure,” Scheffler said. “Didn’t hole as many putts today. I felt like I hit some good ones that didn’t fall, and I got a couple of poor breaks on the back nine.”
Scheffler said there was “a little rust” in his first start since the Ryder Cup in September, but he said there were good omens for the coming season. “It’s nice to come down here, kind of gauge where I’m at,” he said. “Very optimistic — did a lot of good things.”
Tournament host Woods, a 15-time major champion, is not playing in the event, saying on Tuesday that the recovery from his latest back surgery is “not as fast as I’d like it to be.”
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